Afghan Taliban deny link with ISI: Report

WASHINGTON (AFP) The Afghan Taliban is denying a report that it receives funding, training and protection from Pakistans ISI intelligence agency, a US monitoring group said Tuesday. A message viewed by the US-based SITE Intelligence Group said the Afghan Taliban described the reported link this week as void of all truth, false and untrue propaganda. The comment came in reaction to a report for the London School of Economics (LSE) based on interviews with nine Taliban field commanders in Afghanistan between February and May of this year. The Afghan Taliban, according to SITE, said that no sound mind would accept that Pakistan, which supports the US, would back the jihad against the US presence in Afghanistan. The message from the self-proclaimed Shura leadership in Afghanistan also alleged the report was concocted by the London School of Economics to protect American and British interests in the country.